Improvement in clay-tempering machines



trhul 5131125 strut dlitrr.

e. Norris, or WAsHINGTo, DIs'rItIor orA COLUMBIA, AssIGNon To HIMSEL p E. N. GRAY, OF SAME PLAGE.

Letters Patent No. 95,374, dated September 2,'1869 i IMPROMENT 1N CLAY-TEMPERING indemnes.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the salme,

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I,.G. NoYEs, of ,Washingtom in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for l'lempe'ring Clay and other substances; and I do hereby declare that lthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,r reference beingrhad tothe annexed drawings, making part of this' specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my improvedv machine, showing the receptacle for the clay or other substance to be tempered, the-'wheel for acting upon such substance, and the gearingfo'r driving the same.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional elevation, taken on line :c :c of fig. 1, showing the ,arrangementy of gearing for driving the tempering-wheel from below the bed or receptacle iu which the. material .to be tempered is to b e placed. f

liigure 3 is an lelevation of the pinion to be used in propelling the tempering-wheel, together with a portion of the segment-wheel, or -wheel with which it meshes, as they are usually constructed.

Figure 4 is a similar view of the same parts, as they appear when constructed in accordance with my. in. vention.

Corresponding letters refer to corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines for tempering clay to be manufactured into bricks, and for other similar purposes; and

It consists in the construction of the pinion which propels the tempering-wheel, as will be more fully ex- Yplained hereinafter.

Serious diiiiculties have. been encountered in constructing andoperating machines of this class, from the fact that the'power which has propelled `them has been communicated through some horizontal shaft vabove the receptacle for the material to be tempered,

which arrangement has necessitated the use of a long vertical shaft to communicate the motion of such horizontal shaft to the shaft and gear-wheels which propel the-temperingwheel This arrangement of the parts has rendered necessary expensive, and, in many cases, inconvenient frame-work to support the shafting, which often interferes with the efficient operating of the machine, and is always a large addition to its cost.

Another, and 'a very serious objection has arisen from the fact that the pinion which meshes into the gear upon the upper surface of the bed or receptacle for the material to be tempered, has been constructed in accordance with well-known rules as to its diameter, and as to the pitchline of its cogs or teeth, which form of construction has been found to be defective in this particular case. It is the design of this invention to remedy the evils above alluded to, which result is accomplished in the manner soon to be described.

A, in the drawings, represents a bed or receptacle for the material to be tempered, which may be of wood, bricks, stone, iron, or any other suitable material, and should be of the form shown in iig; 2, or someequivalent form.` This bed or receptacle may be lowered into the earth to a point near the segment-gear upon its upper surface, which position will rgreatly facilitate the fill ing of the same, or it may be placed upon a foundation of any kind, and be elevated to any required height to give ready access to the gearing upon the 1 lowerend of shaft H. The dimensions of this receptacle will vary according to circumstances, very good proportions for one for tempering clay, for manufacturing into bricks, being twenty feet in diameter by two feet deep. 4 l

B represents the annular space to 'be formed in the receptacle. l v r O represents the, gear, which `is to be secured to the, upper surface of thereceptacle'A, its teeth or cogs being upon its'upper surface. This, gear may be made in segments, and such segments joined together aty their ends,y to as to form an entire circle,.or it may be cast in one piece. Any required pitch may begiven to the cogs of this Wheel, that will give them the required strength.

`D represents the pinion, which meshes into the wheel C, the usual method of constructing which is shgwn in fig. It has been found, however, that for this particular purpose, a wheel so constructed is very defective, for the reason that it will not remain in gear with the wheel O whenv propelling the temperingwheel, for thereason that the contact-surface. is only lupon the front face of the cogs of wheel C, or that surface which is in the direction of the motion of the pinion. This `being the case, the tendency is to lift the pinion out of gear with the 'wheel G, thus causing a stopping of the tempering-wheel, and endangering the breaking ofthe gearings. lo remedy this defect,

vI construct the` pinion D, as shown in fig. 4, the change case. 'lo eect this, it will be necessary to slightly reduce the size of the cogs in such pinion'.

E represents a shaft, to the outer end of which the pinion D is secured, its opposite end resting in the bearing I, which is secured to the vertical shaft H.

F represents a bevelled-gear wheel, which is secured to the inner end of the shaft E, and meshes into, and

is driyen by the wheel G, `which is secured to the upper end of the shaft H, or to such portioncthereof asl to cause ittomesh with wheel E, and drive the same.

. H represents a vertical shaft, which has its bearings iuboxes or sockets secured tothe centre of thel receptacle A, but which extends down through such receptacle for some distance, and has secured to its lower portion a wheel, G', which meshes into any drivingwheel which may be supplied for the purpose.

I represents a box or bracket, the lower horizontal portion of which embraces the vertical shaft H, and revolves thereon. The horizontal portion of this bracket extends outward oni shaft H for some distance, whereA it joinsthe vertical portion thereof', which vertical portionI is provided with a slot in which the Vbevelled wheel F works, that port-ion of said A bracket which is inside of this wheel serving Aas the support and bearing for the inner end of shaft E, -while that portion thereof which is outside of Ysuch wheel has a slot formed in its upper end, through which the shaft E passes. To this outside portion there is to be secured a box or bearing for the inner end of shaft K to revolve in. 'lhe arrangement of theseparts is such, that as the vertical shaft H is revolvd, the bevelled-gear wheel G, upon its upper end, engages with, and revolves the wheel F upon shaft E, which causes it to revolve upon its axis, and also to perform revolutions around such shaft, in which movement it carries with it thebracket I, the shaft K, with its tempering-wheel K', and disk-or wheel which supports the outer end of the shalt upon which it is placed.`

K represents the shaft above alluded to, its inner end having its bearing in a box secured to the bracket I, while its outer end is supported upona blank wheel which rotates with such shaft, and upon a track formed upon the segment-wheel C inside of the cogs of such wheel; or, it' preferred, such track may be upon the outside of such cogs.

K represents a wheel which is to be used as the tempering-wheel. The bed or receptacle having been `filled with clay or other substance,`aud af suiiicient quant-ity of water or other moistening-material having been added, 'thewheel K' is made to rotate, and. thus the material in such bed or receptacle is thoroughly mixed, and made ofthe same consistency throughout. It will be seen, upon reference to fig. 1,thatt11e rims of this wheel consist of two parts, which form of construction leaves a recess or groove between such rims at all parts except where they join the spokes of the wheel. rIhe wheel thus constructed presents two ceptacle. The longitudinalmovement spoken of, may

be imparted to this wheel by means of a rack and pinion, so arranged that the rotation of the vertical shaft shall give to it the required movement; or, it may be given by a screw so arranged as to be driven from the same shaft; in either case the gearing which drives it being so arranged, that when the tempering-- wheel reaches the outside or inside of iis range of motion-which will be the inside surface of the receptacle, or the hub at its centre-it shall be reversed, and the tempering-wheel be moved in the opposite direction upon its shaft.

L represents a rod or chain, which is attached to` the outer endrof shaft E, or toa point just inside the pinion D, from which point it extends to the outer end of shaft K, to which it is secured. This' rod is to be attached to the shaft E in such a manner that said shaft shall revolve freely therein, so that, as such shaft revolves, it shall, by acting upon such connection, draw after it the shaft K, Vand consequently the tempering-wheel K'.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat- The construction of the pinion D, substanti. lly as and for the vpurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing 

